The passenger check-in process at the airport is one of the most costly exercises for both passengers and airlines. Passengers sometimes spend an hour or more trying to get through the queues at the check-in counter awaiting physical baggage check-in. This can sometimes cause certain passengers to be late to board the aircraft, consequently causing delays in take-offs, and more delays on the part of the aircrafts, the airline, and its passengers. Airlines are not known have not successfully moved the check-in process off-counter.
There have been many attempts at streamlining this process, from e-tickets to self-check-in kiosks, from card-swipe identifications to remote check-in via PDAs.
These attempts have however failed to address one or more of the following problems: 1. How to automate check-in for passengers with baggage to check-in; 2. How to cut down the paper-trail from ticket issue to check-in to boarding pass; 3. How to remove the bottleneck at the check-in process, or to remove part of that process altogether; 4. How to address all of the above whilst maintaining or improving on the security of the process in light of global security requirements.